A Child Called "It" Review

Title of the Book: A Child "called It"  Author: Number of Pages: 180  Rating: ☆☆☆☆ Review: You’ll really appreciate your mom after reading A Child Called It By David pelzer, because this book hits you right in the feels. The book opens with David going to school bruised from his mother's abuse and the nurse noticed, after getting the police officer david was taken to the station and told “She will never hurt you again”. The book then goes to the beginning of it all, Dave talks about his mother’s cooking, and family trips before she began to drink. This book makes you feel small right off the bat, making you feel like david, getting every beating along with him.

As the book progresses, things don't get any better, graphically describing the harsh and unwarranted “Punishments”  for being a “Bad Boy”, for instance making him repeat the second grade, and wear the same clothes to school every day, for years. The only glimpse of hope in this book is that this poor little child can muster the will to survive from the scraps of esteem left from his mother.

His father is hardly present, he learned not to help Dave when he gave him some Paint-by-Numbers for Christmas, and Catherine threw a fit at him. She begins withholding food, making him eat his brothers left out cereal from that morning, and eventually if caught eating, he would be made to vomit it up, and eat it while she and his brothers watched. It's really a heart breaker when his dad refuses to help him, not even give him food, when he begs for help. It's unthinkable how a parent can refuse their child begging for food.

Things get worse when he is forced out of his room and into an old army cot in the garage.he had to live like that until he was 12, abused for six years by his mother and “Mothers lil Nazi” as he would call his brother, who she often allow in on the punishment. Honestly I would only recommend this book to parents to give to their spoiled little brat who thinks his life sucks because he has responsibilities.   

Title: Anne Frank - The Diary of a Young Girl

Author: Anne Frank

Number of Pages: 352

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

The Diary of Anne Frank is one of the most inspirational, emotion-tangling, and intriguing books I have ever read. I say this with confidence. The book is about a young girl in hiding from the Nazis in World War II. She hides with seven others in unimaginable places with living conditions that will make you cringe. They hide at the secret annex at Prinsengracht 263 in Amsterdam. They stories told by Frank are so detailed and intense that there were times where I had to stop reading and take a deep breath. I got lost in this book in all aspects. The group, including Frank, were deported to a concentration camp for Jews after about 2 years of hiding in Amsterdam. At this point, the book takes a hard turn and you really start to get sick to your stomach from the awful (and truthful) things Anne Frank and her family went through. When the group is at the concentration camp, they suffer from hunger, disease, separation from each other, and death. Anne Frank’s father, Otto Frank, is the only character of the group that survives by the end of the novel.

This book is absolutely amazing. I think that Anne Frank’s writing style and skills are what makes the read so compelling and heart-wrenching. If someone else with limited writing skills wrote the book, I think I would take away more of the awfulness of the holocaust in itself, rather than what the personal experiences of the poor souls who were in it were like. I have never seen the movie to this novel and I’m not sure if I want to. I don’t know how good the reviews are on it, but I would imagine that only the best filmmakers and screenwriters in the world can portray the raw emotion and detail that Anne Frank demonstrates in her writing. I love this book and I will read it again. It’s the perfect example of a “bittersweet” read, because the events are so incredibly horrible, but the way they are described are so tasteful, detailed, and will make you keep flipping pages until your eyes burn.

I would recommend this to someone who loves to read, and also someone who can handle the weight of such an intense subject. As far as my friends go, I would recommend it to them because of the sole reason that they’re great readers and can take a lot of emotional stress. As far as the general public, I would recommend the book to them, but also warn them for tears smearing the ink of the book, not to mention feeling a sense of depression when you’re done reading it for the day.

By: Ryan Schoenmaker

Eat Pray Love Review

Title of the Book: Eat Pray Love
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Number of Pages: 352
Rating: ☆☆☆
 Review:

Elizabeth comes to a stop in life where she has a realization of what her life is, and what she wants it to be. Through crying nights and a life thats supposed to be filled with kids and a happy marriage, she ends the day to day life she's living. Elizabeth changes everything from being married, thinking she wants children, where she's living, to what she eats and her religion.

A new love life arrises but is a rollercoaster such as her feelings and financial stability. She pursues a short living situation in Italy as she meets new people, and eats... a lot!
Her 4 months comes to a end as she then arrives in Indian.

Religion was a thought often to Elizabeth as she felt the need to look up to something and to have faith. In India she seeks this as she sees a guru and try to find whats within.
Lastly in the book her 4 month trip in Indonesia teaches her more about what she wants out of life as she talks to the reader directly to bring them along her journey of finding herself. The wording is perfect be able to find a laugh here and there at the hardest times within Eat Pray Love.

I found myself much relating to this book as its very relatable emotionally and her confusion towards life and what she wants is what I hear from many woman of all ages and also men. Elizabeth could be a person who could be judged easily due to her desicions and ways to find herself. A open minded reader who is there to listen and think as apposed to think of life with rules and ways should read Eat Pray Love . Elizabeth had boundaries in her life when she wasn't content so he decides to be open to learning and to tell all in her book. This is what makes Eat Pray Love the unique book that it is and has drawn in a ton of readers.

By: Brenna Erickson

Title of the Book:A Long Way Gone   Author:Ishmael Beah    Number of Pages:218  Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ Review:

A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah, is an extremely powerful and emotional book. Ishmael begins his story in his hometown; his friends and him are about to leave to go to a talent show for rap. While they are gone his hometown is attacked by a rebel army and he is forced to go on the run with his friends. He writes about his struggles of trying to survive as a 13 year old boy with no resources. The boy's face challenges around every corner, whether it be finding food or being attacked by scared villagers. After travelling for weeks and experiencing much hardship, Ishmael finally gets to bit a stability, only to have it ripped quickly away when he is enlisted into the army. Ishmael shares some of his war stories and then goes on to write about how he recovers from the traumatic events of being a child soldier.

A Long Way Gone is unique because it shares a personal encounter with being a child soldier. Ishmael puts you in his shoes and you really feel what it was like to be there because of how it is written in first person. As you read you feel like you are there with Ishmael experiencing what he is experiencing, although some of his memories are hard to imagine because of how horrific they are. Ishmael also writes dialogue the way it was spoken which makes it easier to be in the book.

I would recommend this book to people that like to read war stories because it is a first hand encounter of being a child soldier before, during, and after. I think this book would be a great tool to use in help raising awareness of the problem of child soldiers because it includes the violence Ishmael went through at a young age, this being an eye opener to most people. You experience how Ishmael is changing and losing his innocence and childhood as his journey continues. All around it is a really captivating and moving book that makes you want to do something for child soldiers.

Into The Wild

Title of the Book: Into The Wild
Author: Jon Krakauer    
Number of Pages: 203
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Review:

            Into The Wild, by Jon Krakauer, is a very well written book that emphases how nature can be unforgiving even if it doesn’t seem like it. Chris McCandless drops everything in his life, donates all the money he has in his bank account to charity and tries his best to disappear with his goal to live in the wild. Changing his name and working small jobs here and there to make a little money so he could make his way to Alaska, McCandless decided that the best way to live was to live free in nature all on his own. His family didn’t know where he was, and he wanted to keep it that way. He lived like he wanted to in the wild away from the stresses of society.

This book was very unique because Jon Krakauer tells the story in pieces that aren’t all in order, and helps piece together why McCandless decided to go live in the wild. He uses letters written by McCandless to the people he met along the way and stories from those people to find out what McCandless did in the time after he decided to go by a different name. It’s also a captivating because Krakauer also adds in his own stories of his experiences in the wild and how he figured out that nature is a lot more dangerous than he originally thought. Krakauer can relate to McCandless with how he too is drawn to nature making the book interesting and easy to read.

            I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys nature and doesn’t mind that the story isn’t told in order. Also if you don’t mind how Krakauer adds in other stories that relate to the story of Chris McCandless along with some of his own experiences, that creates depth and makes the story as a whole more interesting, it’s the book for you. Krakauer is a storyteller like no other because his background of writing articles for magazines and so his style of writing is similar to what you would find in a magazine. Overall I would recommend the book to anyone because the way it’s written is unique and it’s a great story.

Into Thin Air

Into Thin Air Review

If one in every twenty people died on a trip that you were going to go on would you do it? It’s possible, but what about one in four or five? Those stats are a little more threatening, those are Mount Everest’s stats. The top of the world doesn't just let anyone conquer it. You have to want it, you have to be in tip top emotional and physical health. You can be the strongest climber but you don’t have the head for it then you turn around or Everest gives you the boot. The climb is the ultimate test of mental and physical endurance and only the strongest make it. 

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer is a book that gets your heart racing. It felt as if I was watching a movie when reading it because of the vivid detail by Krakauer. The book starts at the summit of Everest. For a book about climbing one would think that the summit is the climax! But not here, the summit is actually probably the most anticlimactic part of this book. The second and third chapter touch on the history of the mountain and the indigenous people that surround it. Finally it seems like the story actually starts around chapter four. Krakauer explains how he ended up taking this job to go write a article about the commercialism of Everest and how the gig started out with him remaining safely at Base Camp but evolved into him going on an expedition to attempt the summit. He then moves on to who will be in his own expedition as well as those that will be in others that will also be attempting the summit.  He shares his concerns or how sorely underprepared his fellow climbers. Once the characters have been touched on the acclimatization process starts. This takes place during the weeks before the climb and consists of the clients making series of ascend and descend’s. Back and forth from Base Camp to camp 1 and back, then back up the camp one and onward to camp two etc. This proves allows the clients to adjust the the severe lacking of oxygen in the thin atmosphere. I feel as if the rising action begins when Krakauer sees his first body on the slope and doesn't climax until the descend. During which there are many complications, some that were unavoidable and just Mother Nature’s way of testing the climbers but some that could have been prevented entirely. Once finally off the mountain and back to Base Camp, Krakauer tallies the dead and presumed dead. For a couple years that expedition held the title of the highest body count ever recorded in one summit attempt. Krakauer writes about how he came to his decision to expand on his assigned article and turn the experience into a full blown book. He stresses the fact that he felt this was what he was meant to do. He believed he was meant to write this book so people knew what happen on that mountain. So they knew the heroics some people showed in their last moments and even the mistakes.

I think the book was unique because of how he started it. The first four or so chapters are not in chronological order. He jumps right in to what would seem to be the most exciting part of the book, the summit, but it wasn’t intriguing or climatic. And I think he did this to show immediately that this was not gonna be just anther climbing book. This was not gonna be a climbing action on the ascend, climax at the summit, and falling action on the descent. No this was going to be something entirely different, the most exciting part of the book is when they are on their descend after reaching the summit or being forced to turn around. The authors tone was impressively neutral most of the book. If it was me that had encountered the rudeness of the South African leader than there would have been less sugar coating. Krakauer did a good job and simply pointing out the decisions that were mad and not passing judgement on them. If he had taken clear sides while writing then he would have gotten a lot more upset family members. It was wise to just lay down the facts and let the reader determine what he or she thinks what could have been done. A memorable moment would be when he told his wife “I’m not going to die, don't be so melodramatic” because I’ll bet he got one heck of an earful when he got home barely in one piece! Another would be the multiples times that total disaster was heavily foreshadowed. I would absolutely recommend this book to someone, it was an easy read and didn't take a quarter of the book for you to get engaged in it. 

Title: Into Thin Air  Author: Jon Krakauer  Number of Pages: 291  Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆  Review: I think this book was great. It kept me wanting to not put the book down and I haven't read a book like that in a while!

Into The Wild

Title of the Book: Into The Wild
Author: Jon Krakauer 
Number of Pages: 224
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Review:

On September 6th 1992, three hunters stumbled across a body lying in a bus in the Alaskan wilderness. Unknown to them, the man inside was Christopher Johnson McCandless. A bright young man who graduated from Emory University with honors two years earlier. Shortly after he decided to donate twenty-four thousand dollars to charity, invent a new life for himself, and start his journey into the wild.

Growing up in a relatively well off family, one wouldn't expect Chris McCandless to be so displeased with the nature of materialistic things, yet he went against the grain of what society called for and happily danced to the beat of his own drum. Moving across the United States, he met many people and changed some peoples way of life completely. He adopted a similar outlook to those of which he had read stories from such as, Jack London, John Muir, and Jules Verne. He rid himself of money and belongings so he could be free to experience the vast nature our society has neglected and encroached. Without as much as a phone call to his parents or sister, he disappeared into the tremendous Alaskan forest.

What makes this book great is not only the in-depth description of the whole hearted life Chris McCandless lived, but furthermore it talks about the people he met and affected along his journeys, making you realize how deeply this young man felt for genuine human connection.

Jon Krakauer has a roughly casual tone throughout the story keeping it mellow but still full of vibrant detail and colorful word choice. His presence remains soft throughout the book, as he portrays the life of the young adventurer with reality that makes it feel like you personally know the boy. He writes "Roman, Andrew, and I stay up well past midnight trying to make sense of McCandless' life and death yet his essence remains slippery, vague, elusive." (pg. 186). This quote from the book makes you understand, it's almost impossible to fully know someone else's story. Granted, Krakauer did the best he could to convey the boys story given the information he had.

This book is a good read for anyone who has ever craved adventure or dared to ponder the idea of what life's like outside of today's society. Krakauer explains Chris' life in comparison to other explorers such as Everett Rouse, showing little difference in the boys besides the time they passed, you realize there are many people with this same outlook on life. Ridding of material things and blazing new trails into nature prove to be a stepping stone to a greater purpose. It's easy to see why Christopher took his journey into the wild.